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Science > Prophecies-Of-Nostradamus |
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| Date: |
11 Sep 2006 02:59:49 AM |
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Tony Blair heads to Lebanon to face storm of protest over war stance |
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=3Ddata/middleeast/2=
006/September/middleeast_September239.xml§ion=3Dmiddleeast
Tony Blair heads to Lebanon to face storm of protest over war stance
(AFP)
11 September 2006
JERUSALEM - British Prime Minister Tony Blair heads to Lebanon for the
first time Monday, where he is likely to face protests amid renewed
tensions about his stance on Israel=E2=80=99s recent war with Hezbollah.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora=E2=80=99s office announced last
Wednesday =E2=80=94 the day before Israel began lifting its eight-week
blockade on Lebanon =E2=80=94 that Blair had been invited to intervene with
Israel over the travel restrictions.
Blair=E2=80=99s office has not officially confirmed the visit and it was not
immediately clear what the agenda would be.
The British prime minister is currently in the Middle East to urge both
Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks after months of
deadlock following the election of the hardline Hamas movement to
government.
He is also looking to redress a perceived pro-Israeli bias in British
foreign policy, particularly after his refusal to back calls for an
immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Siniora=E2=80=99s office has said Blair would meet both the premier and
parliament speaker Nabih Berri. But a source close to Berri, who is
also leader of the Shia party Amal that is close to Hezbollah, said
Sunday he would be =E2=80=9Cout of town=E2=80=9D.
The source would not confirm reports in Lebanese daily An-Nahar that
Berri had gone to Switzerland on =E2=80=9Cprivate business,=E2=80=9D claimi=
ng this
was effectively an order to snub Blair.
Berri=E2=80=99s Amal party competes with Hezbollah for the support of
Lebanon=E2=80=99s Shias, but was allied with the group during the war with
Israel.
Blair=E2=80=99s trip to Lebanon has already been condemned by a senior
Hezbollah official, who last month accused the British prime minister
of being a =E2=80=9Ckiller=E2=80=9D because of his closely-aligned stance w=
ith the
United States during the war.
=E2=80=98Blair is a killer=E2=80=99
Hezbollah politburo member Ghaleb Abu Zeinb told The Times in London on
August 23 that Blair was not welcome in Lebanon.
=E2=80=9CHe is up to his ears in the blood of Lebanese women and children. =
He
is not welcome here. He is a killer. He killed a whole nation, not just
individuals,=E2=80=9D he was quoted as saying.
That mood was heightened Sunday when Lebanon=E2=80=99s most influential Shia
religious leader added his voice to opposition.
In a statement to AFP, Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Blair was a
=E2=80=9Ckey accomplice in the Israeli-American offensive against Lebanon a=
nd
he should at least be called to account and not warmly welcomed=E2=80=9D.
Instead, he called on Siniora=E2=80=99s government to declare Blair
=E2=80=9Dpersona non grata,=E2=80=9D accusing him of =E2=80=9Cfacilitating =
the arrival of
destructive American armaments in Israel=E2=80=9D.
That was a reference to the use of British airports by US jets carrying
missiles to Israel, which caused a storm of protest in late July.
London has said it was not informed by Washington of the cargo.
Fadlallah=E2=80=99s comments also came after Lebanese parties close to Syria
=E2=80=94 one of Hezbollah=E2=80=99s main backers and for decades the power=
broker
in Lebanon =E2=80=94 called for protests against Blair.
The 8th of March group, a coalition of pro-Syrian political parties,
said a protest would be held at 11:00 am (0800 GMT) Monday outside the
downtown offices of the UN Economic and Social Council for Western
Asia.
Separately, the Lebanese state news agency ANI said pro-Syrian students
would seek to protest outside Siniora=E2=80=99s office at the same time.
Asked by a local television station Sunday whether he would prohibit
demonstrations, interim Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said he had not
received a request for permission to demonstrate, but would study it if
he did.
Blair=E2=80=99s official spokesman told reporters Friday they were prepared
for opposition both to Britain=E2=80=99s position on the Palestinian issue
and Lebanon.
=E2=80=9CWe will not be surprised if there=E2=80=99s expressions of anger,=
=E2=80=9D he
said.
A day earlier, Palestinian political groups and intellectuals said
Blair=E2=80=99s visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah was =E2=80=9Cextreme
provocation,=E2=80=9D accusing him of wanting to =E2=80=9Cwash his
Lebanese-bloodstained hands with Palestinian water=E2=80=9D.
=20
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
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